Archives: February 2008

Dems Set New Fundraising Record

Posted by: Chi-Chu Tschang on February 29, Categories: early

The Democrat candidates are setting new records in raising money for the 2008 Party presidential nomination. Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton announced yesterday that she pulled in $35 million in...

Sprint-Nextel's Enormous Loss

Posted by: Harry Maurer on February 28, Categories: late

The No. 3 U.S. wireless company wrote off the entire value of Nextel Communications and took a $29.5 billion loss for the fourth quarter. That’s the fifth-largest loss of...

Conservative Icon William F. Buckley Jr. Dies

Posted by: Chi-Chu Tschang on February 28, Categories: early

William F. Buckley Jr., the 82-year-old founder of the conservative journal, the National Review, prolific political essayist and author of more than 50 books, died in his Connecticut home....

Bernanke Ready With More Rate Cuts

Posted by: Harry Maurer on February 27, Categories: late

America’s central banker says he’s prepared to keep lowering interest rates, even in the face of rising inflation. In testimony to the House Financial Services Committee, Fed Chairman Ben...

Bush, Congress At Odds Over Mortgage Relief Bill

Posted by: Chi-Chu Tschang on February 27, Categories: early

An intensely political battle over how to solve the worst mortgage crisis in the U.S. since the Great Depression is forming along party lines. Senate Democrats gathered support for...

Prices Up, Confidence Down

Posted by: Harry Maurer on February 26, Categories: late

The seasonally adjusted producer price index for finished goods jumped a sharp 1% in January, after dropping in December by a revised 0.3%. The core PPI, minus volatile food...

U.S. stocks rally

Posted by: Chi-Chu Tschang on February 26, Categories: early

The market rose Monday after Standard & Poor’s reiterated its top rating for bond insurer Ambac Financial, and took another insurer, MBIA, off its credit-watch list. Fears that Ambac...

Home Sales Keep Sliding

Posted by: Harry Maurer on February 25, Categories: late

There’s still no end in sight to the housing slump. The National Association of Realtors reports that existing-home sales in January fell to the lowest level in nine years....

Electronic Arts Makes $2 Billion Bid for Take-Two

Posted by: Chi-Chu Tschang on February 25, Categories: early

In an effort to create the world’s largest maker of video games, Electronic Arts has launched a $2 billion bid to take over Take-Two, the publisher of the Grand...

U.S. Government Weighs Rescue for Homeowners in Debt

Posted by: Andy Reinhardt on February 22, Categories: early

U.S. Government Weighs Rescue for Homeowners in Debt With the share of U.S. homeowners whose mortgages are worth more than their properties at its highest level since the Depression,...

Dresdner Bails Out Its SIV

Posted by: Harry Maurer on February 21, Categories: late

Dresdner Bank, a unit of Allianz, became the last of the world’s major financial institutions to move to rescue its structured investment vehicle, the $18.8 billion K2. The fund,...

Fed lowers 2008 growth forecasts

Posted by: Mark Scott on February 21, Categories: early

The Federal Reserve reduced its forecast for growth in 2008 due to a lagging housing market, continued instability in the financial markets, and uncertainty over consumer spending. The new...

Inflation may limit room for rate cuts

Posted by: Harry Maurer on February 20, Categories: late

Housing prices are tanking and the economy may be on the verge of recession, but that’s not putting a damper on inflation. Consumer prices rose by 0.4% in January,...

McCain and Obama move one step closer to nominations

Posted by: Chi-Chu Tschang on February 20, Categories: early

Senators John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Barack Obama (D-Ill.) won decisive victories on Feb. 19 to take a further step in becoming their parties' presidential nominees. For the Democrats, Obama...

A Shocker from Credit Suisse

Posted by: Harry Maurer on February 19, Categories: late

Shares of Switzerland’s No. 2 bank got hammered after it reported that the credit crunch and pricing mistakes on bonds will cut its first-quarter profit by $1 billion. The...

U.S. banks borrow $50 billion from Fed

Posted by: Chi-Chu Tschang on February 19, Categories: early

U.S. banks have borrowed nearly $50 billion of one-month funds from the Federal Reserve to help offset the lack of available credit. Through the Fed's newly-created Term Auction Facility,...

U.S. Will Try to Shoot Down Spy Satellite

Posted by: Chi-Chu Tschang on February 15, Categories: early

A U.S. Navy cruiser in the Pacific Ocean will try to shoot down an out-of-control U.S. spy satellite that is loaded with toxic fuel. President George W. Bush authorized...

More Rate Cuts Ahead?

Posted by: Harry Maurer on February 14, Categories: late

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, in prepared testimony before the Senate Banking Committee, suggested that further rate cuts may well be in the cards. “At present, my baseline outlook...

Rupert Murdoch a White Knight?

Posted by: Chi-Chu Tschang on February 14, Categories: early

Yahoo and Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. are in talks about mixing Yahoo's business with News Corp's Internet businesses, including social networking site MySpace. News Corp. and a private equity...

Retail sales data cheers the markets

Posted by: Harry Maurer on February 13, Categories: late

At last, an economic data report that surprises on the upside. Retail sales in January rose 0.3%, after falling 0.4% in December, the Commerce Department reported today. Sales of...

Obama, McCain Sweep Virginia, Maryland, D.C.

Posted by: Chi-Chu Tschang on February 13, Categories: early

Senator Barack Obama swept the “Potomac Primary” in Virginia, Maryland, and Washington D.C. Tuesday in a landslide, giving his campaign for the Democratic Party’s nomination for the presidency a...

Take My Buyout, Please!

Posted by: Harry Maurer on February 12, Categories: late

General Motors extended and sweetened its buyout offer to hourly employees while reporting an eye-popping loss for 2007. It’s offering all 74,000 blue-collar workers a buyout: $62,500 plus retiree...

US mortgage crisis hits prime loans

Posted by: Chi-Chu Tschang on February 12, Categories: early

With home prices falling as a consequence of the sub-prime crisis, Americans with solid credit histories are finding themselves in a jam. With lower home prices, they are unable...

Four Charged with Spying for China

Posted by: Harry Maurer on February 11, Categories: late

In two cases that apparently have no connection, a Defense Dept. analyst and a former Boeing engineer were arrested and charged with selling military secrets to China. Two Chinese...

Four Charged with Spying for China

Posted by: Harry Maurer on February 11, Categories: late

In two cases that apparently have no connection, a Defense Dept. analyst and a former Boeing engineer were arrested and charged with selling military secrets to China. Two Chinese...

Four Charged with Spying for China

Posted by: Harry Maurer on February 11, Categories: late

In two cases that apparently have no connection, a Defense Dept. analyst and a former Boeing engineer were arrested and charged with selling military secrets to China. Two Chinese...

Clinton Drops Campaign Manager

Posted by: Chi-Chu Tschang on February 11, Categories: early

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton on Sunday replaced her campaign manager Patti Solis Doyle with Maggie Williams, her previous chief of staff, following a series of state electoral losses to...

Inflation Worries the Fed

Posted by: Chi-Chu Tschang on February 08, Categories: early

Federal Reserve officials are showing a willingness to cut interest rates again at their next meeting, but concerns over inflation are rising. Amid weakening economic data, futures markets are...

Cisco Sees Trouble Ahead

Posted by: Harry Maurer on February 07, Categories: late

Cisco CEO John Chambers delivered a downbeat assessment in a conference call with analysts on Feb. 6. He said the equipment giant’s revenues would grow by 10% in the...

Northwest, Delta Merger Talks Near Deal

Posted by: Chi-Chu Tschang on February 07, Categories: early

Delta Air Lines and Northwest Airlines are close to a possible deal in their merger talks, according to people with knowledge of the meetings. A deal, which is likely...

U.S. productivity data gives stocks a lift

Posted by: Harry Maurer on February 06, Categories: late

Worker productivity in the U.S. grew an annualized 1.8% in the fourth quarter, the Labor Department reported today. The figure, which was higher than analysts had anticipated, may put...

U.S. productivity data gives stocks a lift

Posted by: Harry Maurer on February 06, Categories: late

Worker productivity in the U.S. grew an annualized 1.8% in the fourth quarter, the Labor Department reported today. The figure, which was higher than analysts had anticipated, may put...

Obama and Clinton fight to a Draw

Posted by: Chi-Chu Tschang on February 06, Categories: early

No knockout blows for the Democrats on Super Tuesday. Sen. Hillary Clinton won the biggest prize, defeating Sen. Barack Obama in the California primary, and also triumphed in New...

Services Drag Down the Markets

Posted by: Harry Maurer on February 05, Categories: late

Prospects for the U.S. economy were dealt another blow when the Institute for Supply Management reported that its service-sector index dropped sharply to 44.9 in January from 53.2. Economists...

Microsoft May Sell Bonds to Buy Yahoo

Posted by: Chi-Chu Tschang on February 05, Categories: early

Microsoft will need to borrow money for the first time in its 32-year history to fund its proposed $44.6 billion acquisition of Yahoo. Microsoft chief financial officer Chris Liddell...

Bush's Deficit-Heavy Budget

Posted by: Harry Maurer on February 04, Categories: late

President George W. Bush presented to Congress a $3.1 trillion budget for fiscal 2009 that projects near-record deficits, $410 billion in 2008 and $407 billion in 2009. The large...

Google Offers to Help Yahoo Resist Microsoft

Posted by: Chi-Chu Tschang on February 04, Categories: early

Google Chief Executive Eric Schmidt called Yahoo Chief Executive Jerry Yang Friday to offer a hand in fighting off Microsoft’s hostile $44.6 billion bid for Yahoo. Google has publicly...

Alcoa, Chalco Buy 12% Stake in Rio Tinto

Posted by: Chi-Chu Tschang on February 01, Categories: early

The world’s two largest aluminum companies, Alcoa and Aluminum Corp of China, also known as Chalco, have secretly acquired a 12% stake in Rio Tinto for $1.2 billion, days...

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